evolution

I'll be talking about evolution from time to time, since I have a number of biology readings in the hopper. So let's get the groundwork out of the way:

* The idea that there is an inherent conflict between evolution and religion as is ridiculous as it is hard to dissuade people from.

* Since 1950, the Catholic Church has gone from acknowledging the possibility of evolution to accepting the truth of it. That 1950 encyclical was the first official statement on the matter - there was no prior anti-evolution stance to correct. Despite its reputation among laymen thanks to Galileo, the Church has generally been reluctant to comment on scientific theories (scientific practices, especially where the human body is concerned, are another matter).

* Every mainline Protestant denomination either endorses evolution or declares that there is no conflict between evolution and its religious truths. This isn't a recent development either, although it's arguably becoming less relevant to my point, since mainline Protestants are on the decline as the evangelicals grow.

* In other words, within Christianity -- which is what most people, theists and atheists alike, MEAN when they talk about an evolution/religion conflict -- the only naysayers are found in evangelical Christianity.

* In OTHER other words, evolution is only found objectionable by an overtly anti-science branch of Christianity that's barely a century old -- younger than the theory of evolution -- and was founded in part to oppose the teaching of evolution.

* There are, certainly, individual Christians and Christian parishes who oppose evolution and do not belong to evangelical churches. This is because the evangelical viewpoint has dominated the conversation. It's also because modern Christians are, in the aggregate, fucking illiterates when it comes to knowing anything about their religion, their denomination, and the tenets of their faith. They insist they believe something because of "tradition," and refuse to learn anything about those traditions.

* It's not hard to see the compatibility between evolution and religion. Evolution is a mechanism. It's a description of how processes in the physical world work. It offers no comment on the nature or existence of God, no more than the law of gravity does. There's zero difficulty in believing in God and believing that God created a universe in which life evolves.

* It isn't a theory, in the same way that "maybe Ferris is a figment of Cameron's imagination" is a theory. It's a theory in the sense that it's a constantly adjusted model of how we think evolution works -- again, like the "theory" of gravity. There's no actual question about whether evolution is "true." It takes a willful ignorance of hundreds of years of science to pretend there is.

* Because most American Christians have allowed evangelicals to dominate the evolution conversation, those who believe in evolution nevertheless rarely embrace it as part of their religious understanding, and this is a deep shame. Evolution isn't just true, it's fucking wonderful. It's amazing.

If you believe nothing else about a God who created the universe, you should believe this:

Bettering your understanding of that universe brings you closer to God.

Delving into the intricacies of how the world works absolutely reveals the wonder of it all.

The universe is too big, too great, for there to be any possibility than learning more about it will rob it of its mysteries.

You live here. You're one of us. You should know something about it.

I can't relate to any experience of "being religious" that does not include having these things on your mind every single fucking day.